May Bestseller Book Club: A Short Walk Through a Wide World
2024-05-28 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Super excited about this month’s pick – A Short Walk through a Wide World by debut novelist Douglas Westerbeke is part Addie LaRue, part Starless Sea, part Life of Pi and ALL mesmerizing!

As always, this book club pick is available for 10% off (book club pricing) and the evening at our in-house book club includes free treats and wine – you just bring the scintillating conversation – and we expect some incredible conversation around this winner!

Think The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi or A Starless Sea. This is an epic debut that chronicles an incredible life of a woman as she journeys the globe trying to outrun a curse that will kill her if she stops too long in any one place! Intriguing, right?

It all begins in Paris in 1885, when nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn childl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her way home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she suddenly begins to bleed to death.

When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that inexplicably keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor –and here’s the kicker– return to any place where she’s already been.

From the dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we are tethered to Aubry as she is tethered to her curse. She learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s…

Forced to be fiercely independent and yet somehow hopeful and full of longing, Aubry becomes an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders, all to find a safe place she can call home. This really is a spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible. And at its core, it should remind each of us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey, that makes us who we are.

Fab Fantasy Bookclub: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
2024-06-06 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
This is likely to be our biggest fab fantasy gathering to date – we look so forward to you joining the chat! As always, our book clubs are free and open to all: you bring the thoughts, we’ll bring the treats (and wine, always wine).

This month’s pick – The Familiar by the fabulous Leigh Bardugo!

See you on Main Street!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a spellbinding novel set in the Spanish Golden Age. A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024 by The Washington Post, NPR, Goodreads, LitHub, The Nerd Daily, Paste Magazine, Today.com, and more!

“A must-read for those who are seeking a little magic in their lives.” –Deborah Harkness, #1 bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to improve the family’s social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen–and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the lines between magic, science, and fraud are never certain.

But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive–even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santángel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

Thrill in the Ville June: The Institution by Helen Fields
2024-06-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Ooh, this one will be a seriously thrilling discussion. The Institution by Helen Fields As always, our book club selections are 10% off. You bring the conversation, we’ll supply the treats (and wine, of course).

They’re locked up for your safety. Now, you’re locked in with them.

Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer. On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.

Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the baby – before it’s too late. But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?

“The Institution is filled with many twists and turns…and will be popular with [readers] of twisted and dark psychological thrillers.”
Booklist

Young Reader Book Club JUNE
2024-06-17 17:30 - 18:30
You asked – we answered: we’ve started an all-new young reader book club! As with all our clubs, book club selections are always 10% off the list price:

On Monday, June 17th, we’ll discuss the second book in the Islander series, The Islanders: Search for Treasure. The target age range for this book is 8-11.

And on July 15th, we’ll talk about the third all-new book in the series, coming out June 18th, The Islanders: Shipwrecked. We’ll be having a BIG book signing in partnership with the Timrod Library on the square for this on Saturday, June 22nd.

Info about the book is below – ALL are welcome and admission is free. We’ll provide the treats! If you want to reserve a spot in advance, email us at mainstreetreads@gmail.com and we’ll put your name on the list. (Reserving in advance helps us know how much food to order in). You can visit our Upcoming Events page for more on the next club selections!

Moderating the book club will be Miss Abby! Local teacher Abby Schmid is an Oklahoma native who moved to Summerville in 2021.

Abby grew up loving to read and that same love of stories has followed her through all phases of life. She is currently an Elementary teacher in Dorchester District 2.

We all look forward to seeing you on Main Street!

The sequel to New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe’s The Islanders, an “exciting, tender, and absolutely wonderful” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature.

Jake Potter is back on Dewees Island for another summer with his beloved grandmother, Honey. This time, Jake is excited that his dad will be there as he continues to recover from his injuries sustained in Afghanistan.

But Jake also knows they both need get used to a new normal, which isn’t easy. Jake also discovers that his two best friends, Macon and Lovie, are struggling as well. Macon is adjusting to being a big brother, while Lovie is navigating a new relationship with her dad, who has long been absent in her life.

To cheer everyone up, Jake decides that the trio needs a new mission, just like they had the previous summer in saving the turtles. He discovers that his dad loved spending time in an old tree fort on the island, and there is a special treasure box hidden somewhere nearby. Jake just knows if he can find it, maybe his dad will be happy again–and he knows Macon and Lovie are the perfect fellow treasure hunters!

Their search leads them to discover there might be actual buried treasure somewhere on Dewees, all while they battle some unwelcome guests on the island, of both the two- and four-legged kind! On the three friends’ biggest quest yet, they realize that the treasures they really want in life were with them all along.

June Bestsellers Discussion: The Titanic Survivors Book Club!
2024-06-25 18:30 - 20:00
Nothing like a book club theme for a book club night… This month we’re dishing about The Titanic Survivors Book Club by Timothy Schaffert. As always, our book club selections are 10% off. You bring the conversation, we’ll supply the treats (and wine, of course).

From the author of The Perfume Thief, a remarkable tale about the life-changing power of books and second chances, following the Titanic librarian who opens a bookshop in Paris where he meets a secret society of survivors.

For weeks after the sinking of the Titanic, Yorick spots his own name among the list of those lost at sea. As an apprentice librarian for the White Star Line, his job was to curate the ship’s second-class library. But the day the Titanic set sail he was left stranded at the dock. After the ship’s sinking, Yorick takes this twist of fate as a sign to follow his lifelong dream of owning a bookshop in Paris.

Soon after, he receives an invitation to a secret society of survivors where he encounters other ticket holders who didn’t board the ship. Haunted by their good fortune, they decide to form a book society, where they can grapple with their own anxieties through heated discussions of The Awakening or The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Of this ragtag group, Yorick finds himself particularly drawn to the glamorous Zinnia and the mysterious Haze, and a tangled triangle of love and friendship forms among them.

Yet with the Great War on the horizon and the unexpected death of one of their own, the surviving book club members are left wondering what fate might have in store. Elegant and elegiac, The Titanic Survivors Book Club is a dazzling ode to love, chance, and the transformative power of books to bring people together.

July Fab Fantasy Bookclub: Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland
2024-07-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Fab Fantasy Book Club will take place one week later this month to account for the 4th of July holiday.

As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

$32.99 Book club price: $29.69 – 9781649376909 Hardcover, 512 pphttps://bookshop.org/a/89/9781649376909t’s the season for treason…The king of Yusan must die.

The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the god king Joon. He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.

And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness–from the hired hit man seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.They can agree on murder.

They can agree on treachery. But for these five killers–each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal–it’s not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other…but only one can take the crown. Let the best liar win.

“This dazzling fantasy has it all: a richly developed world, a captivating ensemble cast, and a twisty, action-packed quest.” –Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

“The heist is suspenseful, the characters are well-shaded, and the world is richly imagined. Skillfully combining espionage, fantasy, romance, and a quest for justice, this marks Corland as an exciting new voice.” –Publishers Weekly

Young Reader Book Club JULY
2024-07-15 17:30 - 18:30 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
You asked – we answered: we’ve started an all-new young reader book club! As with all our clubs, book club selections are always 10% off the list price:

On Monday, July 15th, we’ll discuss the third book in the Islander series, The Islanders: Shipwrecked. The target age range for this book is 8-11. We’ll be having a BIG book signing in partnership with the Timrod Library on the square for this wonderful new release on Saturday, June 22nd.

Info about the book is below – ALL are welcome and admission is free. We’ll provide the treats! If you want to reserve a spot in advance, email us at mainstreetreads@gmail.com and we’ll put your name on the list. (Reserving in advance helps us know how much food to order in). You can visit our Upcoming Events page for more on the next club selections!

Moderating the book club will be Miss Abby! Local teacher Abby Schmid is an Oklahoma native who moved to Summerville in 2021.

Abby grew up loving to read and that same love of stories has followed her through all phases of life. She is currently an Elementary teacher in Dorchester District 2.

We all look forward to seeing you on Main Street!

Jake, Macon, and Lovie fight to survive at sea in this third high-stakes adventure in the middle grade, New York Times bestselling The Islanders series by Mary Alice Monroe!

Jake Potter’s biggest dream finally comes true: he gets his very own boat! And it’s just in time for another summer of fun on Dewees Island with his best friends, Macon and Lovie.

But on their very first fishing trip, the engine dies, and the three friends find themselves adrift at sea. When a storm carries them to a small, uninhabited island far from Dewees, the kids must use every ounce of their strength, courage, and knowledge to survive as they wait for rescue.

Will their friendship survive the ultimate test?

Thrill in the 'Ville Book Club July: The Good Ones by Polly Stewart
2024-07-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Your Thrill in the ‘Ville Trhiller Book Club will take place one week later this month to account for the 4th of July holiday, pushing all the clubs forward for the month.

As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

The Good Ones by Polly Stewart

$18.99 Book club price: $17.09 – 9780063234161 Paperback, 304 pphttps://bookshop.org/a/89/9780063234161A Today.com & Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2024An engrossing work of literary suspense that illuminates the push and pull of female friendship and the costs of being good when the rules for women begin to chafe.

The last time Nicola Bennett saw Lauren Ballard she was scraping a key along the side of a new cherry-red Chevy Silverado. That was the night before her friend mysteriously vanished from her home, leaving a bloodstained washcloth and signs of a struggle–as well as her grieving husband and young daughter–behind.

Now, nearly twenty years later, Nicola, newly unemployed and still haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend, is returning to her Appalachian hometown. For Nicola, Tyndall County has remained frozen in time. Everywhere she turns she’s reminded of Lauren. Yet shockingly, her former friends and neighbors have all moved on. Drawn to stories of missing girls, Nicola obsessively searches the internet, hoping to discover a clue to Lauren’s ultimate fate.

Driven by a desperate need to know what happened to her friend, Nicola takes a job in her hometown, determined to uncover any bit of information, any small clue, that can help. Deep down she knows the answers are tucked in the hollows and valleys of this small Blue Ridge county. As secrets come to light and the truth begins to unravel, will Nicola finally find release and break free of the past–or lose herself completely to unanswered questions from her adolescence?

“Polly Stewart’s The Good Ones is a fantastic achievement. A classic Southern Gothic tale told through the prism of modern-day sensibilities. Not to be missed.” –S. A. Cosby, NYT bestselling author of Razorblade Tears

“A riveting, unflinching exploration of adolescent female friendships, small-town pressures to conform, and the true crime lover’s tendency to conflate empathy and voyeurism, The Good Ones drew me in from the first lines and still hasn’t released me, days after finishing.” –Katie Gutierrez, nationally bestselling author of More Than You’ll Ever Know

Living Large Book Club July: In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf
2024-07-30 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Your Living Large Book Club will take place one week later this month to account for the 4th of July holiday, pushing all the clubs forward for the month.

As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf

$28.99 Book club price: $26.09 – 9780778310495 Hardcover, 288 pphttps://bookshop.org/a/89/9780778310495Sensational southern gothic! In a small town in Appalachia, people paint their doorways blue to keep spirits away. Black ferns grow where death will follow. And Weatherly Opal Wilder is a Death Talker.

When called upon, she can talk the death out of the dying and save their lives–only once, never twice. But this truly unique gift comes at a price, rooting Weatherly to people who only want her around when they need her and resent her unfamiliar ways when they don’t.

Weatherly’s cousin Adaire also has a gift: she’s a Scryer and can see the future reflected back in dark surfaces. Right before she is killed in an accident, Adaire saw something unnerving, and that’s why Weatherly believes she was murdered–never thinking for a moment that it was an accident. But when Weatherly, for the first time, is unable to talk the death out of the mayor’s son, the whole town suspects she is out for revenge, that she wouldn’t save him.

With the help of clues Adaire left behind and her family’s Granny Witch recipe box, Weatherly sets out to find the truth behind her cousin’s death, whatever it takes. Imbued with magic, witchery, and suspense, Dana Elmendorf’s In the Hour of Crows is a thrilling tale of friendship, identity, and love. .

“In the Hour of Crows enchants with its haunting plot and vivid prose, offering a compelling exploration of the human spirit against the backdrop of Appalachia’s mystique.” –Booklist

Fab Fantasy Book Club August: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova
2024-08-01 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Join the fun! As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

August’s pick is Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

The Witcher meets Naomi Novik in this fast-paced fantasy rooted in Slavic folklore, from an assured new voice in genre fiction. As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice treating lycanthrope bites, bargaining with kikimoras, and slaying bloodsucking upirs. There’s only one monster she can’t defeat: her ex, the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times and now he’s hunting her.

Betrayed by someone close to her, Kosara’s only choice is to trade her shadow–the source of her powers–for a quick escape. Unfortunately, Kosara soon develops the deadly sickness that plagues shadowless witches–and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To find it, she’s forced to team up with a suspiciously honorable detective. Even worse, all the clues point in a single direction: To get her shadow back, Kosara will have to face the Foul Days’ biggest threats without it. And she’s only got twelve days.

But in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the biggest monster from her past?

Thrill in the 'Ville Bookclub August: Extinction by Douglas Preston
2024-08-13 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month’s book is Extinction by Douglas Preston.

With Extinction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written a page-turning thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals.

Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire’s son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.

As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection–but extinction.

Young Reader Book Club August: Escape to the River Sea
2024-08-19 17:30 - 18:30 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Our young reader book club will be reading Escape to the River Sea by Emma Carroll for the August club. As with all our clubs, book club selections are always 10% off the list price.

The target age range for this book is 9-12 (but we adults loved it too!).

Info about the book is below – ALL are welcome and admission is free. We’ll provide the pizza and dessert! If you want to reserve a spot in advance, email us at mainstreetreads@gmail.com and we’ll put your name on the list. (Reserving in advance helps us know how much food to order in). You can visit our Upcoming Events page for more on continued club selections!

Moderating the book club is Miss Abby. Local teacher Abby Schmid is an Oklahoma native who moved to Summerville in 2021.

Abby grew up loving to read and that same love of stories has followed her through all phases of life. She is currently an Elementary teacher in Dorchester District 2.

We all look forward to seeing you on Main Street!

Beautiful and full of adventure, Escape to the River Sea is Emma Carroll’s compelling novel inspired by Eva Ibbotson’s bestselling, classic masterpiece, Journey to the River Sea.

In 1946, Rosa Sweetman, a young Kindertransport girl, is longing for her family to claim her. The war in Europe is over and she is the only child left at Westwood, a rambling country estate in the north of England, where she’d taken refuge seven years earlier.

The arrival of a friend of the family, Yara Fielding, starts an adventure that will take Rosa deep into the lush beauty of the Amazon rainforest in search of jaguars, ancient giant sloths and somewhere to belong.

What she finds is Yara’s lively, welcoming family on the banks of the river and, together, they face a danger greater than she could ever have imagined.

Featuring places and characters known and loved by fans of Journey to the River Sea, this spectacular new story tells of the growing threats to the Amazon rainforest that continue to this day.

Living Large Bookclub August: The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George
2024-08-27 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month: The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George.

A young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love in this tender, lyrical standalone novel inspired by the “bona fide international hit” (The New York Times Book Review) The Little Paris Bookshop

In Nina George’s New York Times bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop, beloved literary apothecary Jean Perdu is inspired to create a floating bookstore after reading a seminal pseudonymous novel about a young woman with a remarkable gift. The Little Village of Book Lovers is that novel.“Everyone knows me, but none can see me. I’m that thing you call love.” In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of infant orphan Marie-Jeanne forever. As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes that she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her–tiny glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker, bringing true loves together in her village. As she grows up, Marie-Jeanne helps her foster father, Francis, begin a mobile library that travels throughout the many small mountain towns in the region of Nyons.

She finds herself bringing soulmates together every place they go–and there are always books that play a pivotal role in that quest. However, the only person that Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find a soulmate for is herself. She has no glow of her own, though she waits and waits for it to appear. Everyone must have a soulmate, surely–but will Marie-Jeanne be able to recognize hers when Love finally comes her way?

September Fab Fantasy Club: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
2024-09-05 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Join the Fab Fantasy book club fun! As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

September’s pick is The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman.

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place at the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left. The survivors aren’t the heroes of legend like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke.

They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. But it’s up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods return, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again–but first they’ll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, complete with duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It’s also a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, trying to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you’ll love Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don’t often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.” –George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones

Thrill in the ‘Ville Bookclub September: What Have You Done?
2024-09-10 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month’s selection is What Have You Done by Shari Lapena. Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont. But this morning that will change. And one innocent question could be deadly. What have you done?

The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked. But Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.

How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia. Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.

Adventures in Reading: Young Reader Book Club
2024-09-16 17:30 - 18:30 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
ou asked – we answered: our new young reader book club is picking up steam! As with all our clubs, book club selections are always 10% off the list price. On Monday, September 16th, we’ll chat about Legends of Lotus Island. The target age range for this book is 8-12.

From three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Christina Soontornvat comes a compelling and immersive young middle grade fantasy series for readers who love stories about animals, magic, and kids like them embracing their power to change the world.

Young Plum is shocked to discover that she’s been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and how to use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies. All the kids also learn to fight, so they can protect the defenseless if needed.

To her dismay, Plum struggles at school. While her classmates begin to transform into amazing creatures, Plum can’t even seem to magic up a single feather! If she can’t embrace her inner animal form soon, she’ll have to leave school ― and lose the first group of real friends she’s ever known.

Moderating the book club is local teacher, Miss Abby! Abby Schmid is an Oklahoma native who moved to Summerville in 2021. She is currently an Elementary teacher in Dorchester District 2.

We all look forward to seeing you on Main Street!

NEW! Kiss & Tell Romance Book Club
2024-09-17 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
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Yep, it was inevitable – we’re kicking off an all new romance club! We’ll vary up selections between contemporary romance, historical, spicy and romantasy. We’re kicking off this month because we know a lot of you already have this awesome new release from a lowcountry based author…

Wine and treats served – come join the fun!

Laurie Devore’s The Villain Edit

The Villain Edit is a bit of everyone’s favorite Emily Henry (Happy Place) meets The Bachelor! This sexy dramedy has all the fun and feels, beginning with a cynical romance novelist, Jacqueline Matthis. Her career has tanked and she’s ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown.

Desperate, Jac dreams up a comeback plan: to be a contestant on the 1, the most-watched reality dating show in the world. Jac is a romance writer after all. She knows how to pull off a meet-cute and create a spicy plotline better than most of us.

But Jac soon discovers that while she may have just met the love of her life, the producers are turning her into the show’s villain.

Good villains make good TV, right? On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’s heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on the 1? Henry is just as horrified…but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

Laurie Devore

Jac knows that she’s getting the villain edit. And they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure. What happens if Marcus chooses her? Worse, what happens if her affair with Henry comes to light? What if, in trying to save her career, she instead will further wreck her mess of a life?

Smart, funny, and sexy, with a lowcountry twist, anyone who has ever secretly rooted for the villain (or has been one) will love it. Grab now for a perfect end of summer read!

Books & Banter Bookclub September: The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
2024-09-24 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month we’re chatting about The Bookbinder by Pip Williams. A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.

It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press. Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them–but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford’s Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips.

Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her. Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters’ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier–and the responsibility that comes with it–threaten to hold her back.The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge–who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes.

Fantasy Book Launch: She Tames the Sea by E.M. Etheridge
2024-10-03 17:00 - 19:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
We’re thrilled to have lowcountry author E.M. Etheridge here on Thursday evening, October 3, with the launch of her dark fantasy novel, She Tames the Sea. We’re hosting this before Fab Fantasy book club begins so our fantasy readers can meet the author!

Men fear a woman on the sea. They say women bring about bad luck and anger from the gods who rule the waters. Estella Bohem fears being aboard Captain Eric Price’s ship, amongst the pirates who kidnapped her for her abilities. It was the Bohem family who used magic to tame the beast of the sea decades ago. They trapped it in an ancient spell to make the waters safe to travel, but it was the vagabonds of the sea who wanted to free it, tame it, and use it for their own ambitions.

All her life Estella never had control of her future. But as the notoriously brutal Captain Edward Laggatt hunts her down for the key to the beast’s cage, she has no choice but to trust the same men who stole her away from her socialite life in Charleston South Carolina.

She Tames The Sea is an adult dark fantasy novel that delves into the complications of familial relations, magic and mythology.

E.M. Etheridge was one of the original members of Main Street Writes. She has been writing since she was a teenager and dreaming since she was a child.

That love for the written word inspired her to get a masters in English and creative writing, and write all of the books she wanted to read. Emily aims to tie lore, magic, and her knowledge of classic literature into all of her stories to create engaging and inspiring books for her readers so they can find their own wonder in this world.

This is her first published novel. Big congrats to one of our own!

October Fab Fantasy Book Club: The Games Gods Play
2024-10-03 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Come join the discussion – wine and apps are free and as always our clubs are free and open to all, PLUS the book club picks are offered at the 10% off book club discount.

Grab now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive endpapers and special design features. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

The gods love to play with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them… I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus. Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.

The worst god. Hades. For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible–the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.

So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me–a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders–as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his? I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky? Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.

October Thrill in the 'Ville Book Club: Worst Case Scenario
2024-10-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Come join the discussion – wine and apps are free and as always our clubs are free and open to all, PLUS the book club picks are offered at the 10% off book club discount.

“Worst Case Scenario is the best thriller I’ve read so far this year. It’s a chilling idea with great characters and near-perfect execution.” -James Patterson

When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota, which becomes ground zero for a catastrophic national crisis with global implications.#1 internationally bestselling author T.J. Newman is back with Worst Case Scenario, following her explosive debut thriller Falling and its harrowing follow-up Drowning.

The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now. In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people–power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends– are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives.

It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.

October Kiss and Tell Romance Book Club: Daydream
2024-10-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Our book clubs are free and open to all – we supply the treats, you bring the scintillating conversation! As always, all book club selections are 10% off book club pricing. Come join our newest club, “Kiss & Tell!”

This month’s pick: Daydream by Hannah Grace. When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team–which he didn’t even want–Henry absolutely cannot fail.

Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club. Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and as soon as she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. Too bad being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job, book club, and the novel she’s trying to write.

But new experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, and Henry promises to be the one to give them to her. They just need to stick to their rule book. Oh, and not fall in love.

October Adventures in Reading Kids Club: The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night by Steven Banbury
2024-10-21 17:30 - 18:30 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Our book clubs are free and open to all AND the book is 10% off book club pricing. Come on out and join your fellow readers for the monthly pizza party and chat about the book!

Perfect for October’s read: The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night is a spooky yet heartwarming adventure about one girl’s journey into the land of the undead, and the unexpected family she finds along the way.

On Halloween, it is always wise to expect the unexpected, but no amount of planning could have prepared Eve for that particular night. Fleeing an unpleasant orphanage, she’s saved by someone who she never believed was real…the fabled Pumpkin King himself. Throwing caution aside, Eve accepts the offer to become his daughter and is whisked away to the misty Hallowell Valley–home to witches and vampires, ghosts and goblins, and all that go bump in the night.

But just when she believes she’s found her place among the undead, a sinister scheme unearths itself, threatening to take everything from Eve unless she can stop it. From debut author Steven Banbury comes a cozy, magical adventure sure to delight anyone who loves the tricks of Halloween as much as the treats of autumn.

October Books & Banter Fiction Book Club: Five Star Strangers
2024-10-22 18:30 - 20:00
As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month’s pick: Five Star Strangers by Kat Tang!

An exciting and “inventive” (HuffPost) debut novel about a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app–a place where users can hire a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or companion of any kind–who finds out who he is by being anyone but himself.

Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? The father to your child? In an age where online ratings are all-powerful, Five-Star Stranger follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app as he navigates New York City under the guise of characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients.

But, when a nosy patron threatens to upend his long-term role as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his attachment to his pretend daughter, her mother, and his own fraught past. Now, he must confront the boundaries he has drawn and explore the legacy of abandonment that shaped his life.

“A sharp page-turner about our culture’s commodification of everything” (Debutiful), Five-Star Stranger is a strikingly vivid novel about isolation in a hyperconnected world, and “what it means to love and be loved” (Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans).

November Fab Fantasy Book Club: A Song to Drown Rivers
2024-11-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Come join the discussion – wine and apps are free and as always our clubs are free and open to all, PLUS the book club picks are offered at the 10% off book club discount.

Seems these fantastic sprayed edges are continually offering up something new and fun for eager readers. This one features gold foiled cover, gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive metallic ink patterned endpapers and unique foiled front and back case stamps. It’s only available on a limited first print run, so if you do want one in your library, now’s the time; they won’t last long.

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The story is equally compelling. Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, this epic novel is steeped in myth.

Young Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, she’s presented with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. To accomplish all this, she must infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken the court from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect weapon. Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors. The king is affectionate, but despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks. Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. And if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down. Plenty of fodder about gender roles, love and war to make for some interesting book club discussion.

November Thrill in the 'Ville Book Club: All the Colors of the Dark
2024-11-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
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Come join the Thrill in the ‘Ville thriller book club discussion – wine and apps are free, and as always our clubs are free and open to all, PLUS the book club picks are offered at the 10% off book club discount.

This month, we’ll be chatting about All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – From the author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that “hits like a sledgehammer . . . an absolutely must-read novel” (Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl).Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on TodayThe Boston Globe‘s #1 Thriller/Mystery of 2024 So FarOne of The Washington Post‘s Best Books of Summer”Kept me frantically turning the pages and somehow made me cry at the end . . . Brava!”–Kristin Hannah, author of The Women“Melds tense suspense with a powerful exploration of devotion, obsession, and love.”–People (Best New Books)1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges–Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake. Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

November Adventures in Reading Kids Book Club: When We Flew Away
2024-11-18 17:30 - 18:30 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Our book clubs are free and open to all AND the book is 10% off book club pricing. Come on out and join your fellow readers for the monthly pizza party and chat about the book!

This month’s pick: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary by Alice Hoffman (of Practical Magic fame).

Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel about one of contemporary history’s most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank’s life before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne’s journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.

With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family’s life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart-wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life.

Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.

Perfect for Alice Hoffman fans and readers of every age.

“Adding new poignance to a story whose ending we already knew, Alice Hoffman has deftly recreated the child Anne Frank with all her wit, mischief, and uncertainties. This fictionalized account of the increasingly desperate years that preceded the famous diary breaks readers’ hearts one more time. But it reminds us of how important it is to remember and honor all that was lost.” — Lois Lowry, Newbery Award-winning author of Number the Stars

“We can highly recommend Alice Hoffman’s novel of Anne Frank’s life, set in the dramatic and terrible circumstances of those first war years. We hope it will persuade young readers that contributing to a better world is both necessary and possible.” –Ronald Leopold, Executive Director, Anne Frank House

November Kiss & Tell Romance Book Club: Lightning in Her Hands
2024-11-19 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
Our book clubs are free and open to all – we supply the treats, you bring the scintillating conversation! As always, all book club selections are 10% off book club pricing. Come join our newest club, “Kiss & Tell!”

This month’s pick: Lightning in Her Hands by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Gifted–or cursed–with the power to influence the weather, one woman must embrace her wild heart in the next electric romance from the author of Witch of Wild Things.

Teal Flores is desperate for two things–control over her gift of weather, and a date to her ex’s wedding. The first isn’t possible until she finds her long-lost mother, but the second has a very handsome last-ditch solution: Carter Velasquez.

Carter needs Teal too. His chance at receiving an inheritance is dependent on him being married by age thirty (blame his traditional Cuban grandmother), so who better to pose as his wife than Teal? But fake marriage and cohabitation prove tricky when mutual attraction charges the atmosphere–quite literally for Teal, whose volatile emotions cause lightning strikes.

Together, Teal and Carter embark on a quest to find her mother and the answers she’s searching for. But along the way, they’ll discover something even better: a love that can weather any storm.

November Books & Banter Book Club: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
2024-11-26 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
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As always, our book clubs are free and open to all, and the book club pick is 10% off the regular price. You bring the conversation, we’ll provide the treats!

This month’s pick: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – From the beloved author of Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall, and The Husband’s Secret comes a moving novel of love, marriage, family, and trying to find certainty in a fragile world.“A riveting story so wild you don’t know how she’ll land it, and then she does, on a dime.”–Anne Lamott

Life is full of twists and turns you never see coming. But what if you did? The plane is jam-packed. Every seat is taken. So of course the flight is delayed! Flight attendant Allegra Patel likes her job–she’s generally happy with her life, even if she can’t figure out why she hooks up with a man she barely speaks to–but today is her twenty-eighth birthday. She can think of plenty of things she’d rather be doing than placating a bunch of grumpy passengers.

There’s the well-dressed man in seat 4C who is compulsively checking his watch, desperate not to miss his eleven-year-old daughter’s musical. Further back, a mother of two is frantically trying to keep her toddler entertained and her infant son quiet. How did she ever think being a stay-at-home mom would be easier than being a lawyer?

Ethan is lost in thought; he’s flying back from his first funeral. A young couple has just gotten married; she’s still wearing her wedding dress. An emergency room nurse is looking forward to traveling the world once she retires in a few years, it’s going to be so much fun! If they ever get off the tarmac. . . .

Suddenly a woman none of them know stands up. She makes predictions about how and when everyone on board will die. Some dismiss her. Others will do everything they can to make sure her prophecies do not come to pass. All of them will be forever changed.

How would you live your life if you thought you knew how it would end? Would you love who you love or try to love someone else? Would you stay married? Would you stop drinking? Would you call up your ex-best friend you haven’t spoken to in years? Would you quit your job? Intricately plotted, with the wonderful wit Liane Moriarty has become famous for, Here One Moment brilliantly looks at friends, lovers, and family and how we

December Fab Fantasy Book Club: Blood Over Bright Haven
2024-12-05 18:30 - 20:00 | Main Street Reads, 115 S. Main St., Summerville, SC, 29483, United States
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Come join the discussion – wine and apps are free and as always our clubs are free and open to all, PLUS the book club picks are offered at the 10% off book club discount.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. This first edition hardcover of Blood Over Bright Haven will appeal to collectors with its red stained edges, intricate red and gold foil on the jacket, a full-color endpaper map, and an interior illustration from the world of the novel.

Blood Over Bright Haven

Meet Sciona, a fierce mage whose lifelong dream is to join the High Magistry—the exclusive governing body within the University of Magics and Industry. Against all odds, Sciona becomes the first woman admitted to the order, but she soon realizes that her hardest battles are only beginning. Her male peers in the High Magistry are quick to dismiss and ostracize her, assigning her a janitor in place of the qualified assistant she expected.

This “janitor,” however, turns out to be much more. Once a part of a wandering tribe, he lost his family and homeland to the forces he now seeks to understand. His journey into the city has left him disillusioned but determined, and he sees his work alongside Sciona as a way to uncover the truth behind his family’s destruction and the oppressive power that keeps people like him on the fringes of society.

Sciona and her assistant forge a tentative alliance that leads them to a dangerous discovery. At its heart, this story is about power, privilege, and the cost of ambition, and Sciona is a character who must confront her own biases to see the larger picture.

For fans of thought-provoking fantasy with a strong feminist and socially conscious edge, Blood Over Bright Haven is a must-read. Its high-stakes plot, intricate magic, and complex characters will resonate with readers.
